The construction contract for the new mental health hospital, which will replace the Central Mental Hospital in Dundrum, has been signed.

The National Forensic Mental Health Service (NFMHS) will be a 130-bed hospital based at St Ita's Campus in Portrane. It will include a 30-bed intensive care rehabilitation unit and a 10-bed child and adolescent mental health unit.

The hospital will replace the current 94-bed Central Mental Hospital, which has long been considered unfit for purpose. It is due to open in early 2020.

A second phase is then planned for the HSE West and HSE South areas - this will involve the building of new regional intensive care rehabilitation units.

Announcing the signing of the construction contract, An Taoiseach, Enda Kenny, said that this hospital ‘will be one of the most modern of its type in Europe'.

"It is a very welcome and long overdue replacement for the Central Mental Hospital at Dundrum. That Victorian building is obviously no longer suitable for 21st century mental healthcare, and in accordance with our national mental health policy, A Vision for Change, a new hospital has been designed on the historic St. Ita's Campus," he commented.

According to the Minister for Health, Simon Harris, the new hospital ‘will have huge benefits for service users, their families and staff'.

"Along with the National Children's Hospital and the National Maternity Hospital, this new forensic hospital represents a huge step forward for this country and will help to ensure that our citizens are cared for in the best way possible," he said.

St Ita's in Portrane was chosen as the most suitable site for the new hospital in 2011. At that time, the HSE took into account local interests, in accordance with specific initiatives agreed with both Fingal County Council and An Bord Pleanala.